AnaBelen

We are planning our 2 week trip to Italy. I am looking forward to the museums, churches, and renaissance art, but tend to have more of an interest in ancient history. Of course, we are planning to visit the Colosseum, Forum, and Palatine hill. Can you suggest other sites in Rome, Florence or Venice we should try to see?
As an aside, I am making my way through an audio version of a course on Roman history (from "Great Courses", the Teaching Company) . Does anyone else do this before a trip? It is absolutely fascinating. I know I learned some of this in school, but that was a million years ago. Sometimes, I am actually pleased to be stuck in traffic listening to the lecturer describe whoever the ancient Romans are beating up on next.

Vttraveler

We visited Rome for 7 1/2 days in 2007 mostly at the (years long) prodding of our son who was very interested in ancient Roman history.

One of the major sites to add to those you have listed is Ostia Antica, the ancient port city that is an easy day trip from Rome.

The Roman history sights that we enjoyed in the central part of the city were the Forum, the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine,the Palatine, the Pantheon, Trajan's column and Markets, the area Sacra dell'Argentina, the temples and arch of Janus near the Piazza Bocca della Verita (and the bocca itself), the Baths of Caracalla, the Pyramid of Caius Cestio, and the obelisks at Piazza del populo, St Peter's , Piazza della Minerva and Piazza Navona. We stayed at an apartment in the ghetto area and all enjoyed walking across the ancient pedestrian bridges of Isola tiberina to and from Trastevere. Even though he knew there was very little left to see of the Circus Maximus I think my son was disappointed by that.

we took the tourist office's archeo bus one day. We went to the catacombs of San Callisto, but my son thought the tour there was too short (not sure if any of the others would have pleased him more, but possibly the catacombs of San Domatillo which are larger) We also went into the Tomb of Cecilia Metella on the Via appia Antica but thought the interior was not really worth paying a separate entrance fee; it is possible to get a combined ticket with one of the baths. We all really enjoyed seeing the aqueduct park at the end of the tour.

We did not take any guided tours in Rome and relied on guide books. The forum is probably the hardest area to understand/appreciate because there is so much there and it is not well marked.
We did use an audio guide at the Baths of Caracalla

If you have any questions about the places we saw, I'd be glad to try to answer them

The next time we go to Rome I am determined to do a day or overnight trip to Tarquinia to see the Etruscan sites there.

In Florence, I would recommend taking the bus up to Fiesole which has some Roman and Etruscan ruins.

I also like to do a lot of reading before trips. For good historical fiction I recommend I Claudius and Claudius the God by Robert Graves, Augustus by John Williams and Lavinia by Ursula K.LeGuin

taconictraveler

AnaBelen: Just the other day, a Fodorite mentioned the Open Yale Courses on Rome,Roman Architecture and History.

I checked it out and found Professor Kleiner's video lecture on Introduction to Roman Architecture.

In addition there are several other courses, and you can download the audio or the video.

I can't seem to find the hot link at the moment, but maybe someone else has it, or just google Open Yale Courses and you'll find a treasure trove. Have fun!

toni_g_b

Another Teaching Company course that made me experience our last trip to Italy in a whole new light was "The Italians before Italy" by Kenneth Bartlett. Wonderfully entertaining presentation.

Infotrack

Very good advice above. Also stop in at almost any cathedral, as there likely is something that is historically significant. For example, St. Peter in Chains (San Pietro in Vincoli), which is just a few easily walked block from the Colosseum, has what is purported to be the chains that bound Peter in Jerusalem and the chains that bound him in Rome. But even more so, there is a striking sculpture by Michaelangelo of "Moses" which is rather astonishing. Any time you see a cathedral, just stop on in.

Do walk the steps up to the top of the Dome at St. Peter's Basilica (Vatican).

There is so much history there one simply cannot stop naming the things to see. They have virtually stopped digging new subway lines in center city because it took so much time, effort and money as they kept digging up things of historical significance.

Has somebody already mentioned Piazza del Popolo? Around the Piazza della Republica (I think I have that spelling right) there is another set of Roman baths that had been transformed into a church many centuries ago. I believe it is called Santa Maria degli Angeli.

Just walking around you stumble upon things, like Largo Argentina, Castel Saint' Angelo (which was in the recent movie "Angels and Demons"), etc.

Tiggy22

I would highly suggest looking into Context Tours. They are small tours (6-8 ppl on the average) led by scholars and specialists geared for the more "intellectually curious" travellers. I am rather "tour-adverse" and love to travel on my own, but found that Context Tours are wonderful enriching learning experiences and worth every penny. In Florence they offer an Ancient Florence Walk that covers Etruscan and Roman roots of Florence from the Baptistry to Fiesole. In Venice they have a very interesting walk about The Plague in Venice as well as one taken by boat - "Islands of the Lagoon - Byzantine and Early Midieval Venice" which explores the development of Venice as it began through the islands of the lagoon (ie Torcello, etc). And in Rome they have numerous walking tours geared towards the city's ancient history - Roma Ostia Antica, Archaelogy of Imperial Rome, The Rise and Fall of Rome, Family Life of Ancient Rome and an excurion to Pompeii.

I highly suggest you check them out: www.contexttravel.com

Nikki

This is the link to the Yale course on ancient Roman architecture:

http://oyc.yale.edu/history-of-art/roman-architecture

It is part of a series of courses provided on line and available for podcast from iTunes for free by Yale University. They are recorded from actual courses given at Yale to undergraduate students within the past couple of years.

I have followed several of the excellent courses in this series, including ones on ancient Greek history and French history. They all have both audio and video, but for some courses, such as the one in Roman architecture, the video is very important, so those I watch on the computer rather than listen in the car.

This is a list of the courses available:

http://oyc.yale.edu/courselist

PRLCH

In Rome we enjoyed the following "ancient" sites. (1) The Scavi Tour at the Vatican: (2) The Catacombs of St Calixte (we had a fascinating guide there); (3) Pompeii (although we did that from Sorrento and not Rome); (4) The three level church in Rome (each level being from a different period) - Basillica of San Clemente. I wish we had had a guide here as it was very interesting.

AnaBelen

Thanks so much for all of the information. I am so excited about this trip, I am not sure how I am going to be able to wait another two months.
Twiggy22, I have already booked a Context tour for the Vatican. We also tend to avoid tours, but I found myself overwhelmed by even the little I read about what to see at the Vatican museums. I am going to check out the Venice walk related to the Plague. I am a scientist (Immunology), so that sounds really interesting.

Lexma90

You have gotten so many excellent suggestions! As you can tell, there are quite a few of us who love to learn about the ancient Roman history of Italy.

If it wasn't already mentioned, the Twelve Ceasars is also very informative.

I wasn't sure whether you were asking about the early history of Venice, or the ancient Roman history of Venice. As you may have already picked up from your reading, Venice was not a city in ancient Roman times. It was "founded" in somewhere around the 600s, or so.

Each time we visit Rome, the informational signs around ancient sites seem to be better. That's good, because few of my guidebooks seem to include information on all of the sites. All over the city, you will be walking along, and just come upon a random portion or a wall, or a pillar, or the like. And I like knowing what I'm looking at!

cindytag1

Where do you recommend staying in Sept.Preferably 5 star

kybourbon

If you are really interested in the forum, a Fodor's poster has written two detailed threads about it and dozens about other parts of ancient Rome/Italy.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...lking-tour.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...our-part-2.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...lking-tour.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/prof...ost/topics.cfm

nytraveler

Well- besides Roman antiquities you might also consider Etruscan and even Greek - depending on where you will be going.

In Rome don't miss the San Clemente church - you can walk down the levels through time to the ancient Temple of Mithras at the bottom. Also don't miss the Villa Giulia - which has a huge collection of Etruscan antiquities.

zeppole

My own view is that people who tour Ostia Antica before they visit the remains of the Forum have not only a better understanding of the Forum, but of the reality of Rome itself, including the Rome built upon its antique foundations.

A dinner in the Jewish ghetto puts you in a great position to take an atmospheric night-time look at the Portico d'Ottavia, beautifully lit.

Given your interest in immunology and plagues, you might want to read up on Torcello, the island in the Venetian lagoon that was the original human settlement in the lagoon, of considerable cultural achievement, until malaria wiped it out in the 14c -- and the few survivors decamped for what is now present day Venice. They left behind a hauntingly beautiful Byzantine basilica and other artifacts.

http://www.innvenice.com/en.Torcello-Island.htm

Also, you might want to at least know about National Historic Museum of the Medical Arts (Museo Storico Nazionale dell'Arte Sanitaria), Lungotevere in Sassia, 3, the site of what many believe was he first purpose-built hospital in Europe: It now holds frightening displays of medical thinking from times past. Opening hours: Mon, Wed, Fri 10am-12pm

http://www.timeout.com/rome/attracti...arte-sanitaria

Likewise, an hour from Firenze in Bologna, the birthplace of much of Western medical practice (and still an important European medical research center), the much-less grisly and well-preserved anatomical theater is worth the day trip if you want one.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatomi..._Archiginnasio

zeppole

vttraveler,

The Etruscan museum in Chiusi is in many ways the better organized museum, although I am not discouraging from visiting Tarquinia, which is a marvelous place. Chiusi is also an easy train ride from Rome.

And if you are ever in NYC, the Etruscan collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is superb.

annabelle2

A third plug for San Clemente in Rome; I loved walking through the different levels of history (at least three stages, as I recall), from the underground temple devoted to the god Mithras up to the beautiful mosiacs in the Basilica, esp the Tree of Life behind the altar.

If you had a few more days, I would suggest going to Pompei since you are a lover of antiquites. But with your schedule I agree with other posters that Ostia Antica is an excellent addition to your trip.

If you are going that way, Verona is just an hour by train from Venice and has, of course, its famous and well preserved arena; you can easily get to the main piazza from the station, visit the arena and then continue on your journey (although Verona is well worth a longer stay, perhaps on a future trip!).

Vttraveler

zeppole--thanks for the suggestions about Etruscan art. I will try to get to that section of the Met next time I am in NYC.

I am intrigued by Tarquinia because of the descriptions of the city's setting and the necropoli and other sites

AlessandraZoe

Fourth plug for San Clemente.

cruiseluv

Ditto from me about San Clemente. I have been many times to Rome and just visited in my last visit, very interesting. It is near the Colosseum, so a good idea to do on the same day.

Fra_Diavolo

I'd recommend the Via Appia Antica from about the Catacombs of St Sebastian out, past Roman tombs and memorials. If you walk far enough you'll see an impressive stretch of aqueduct. The Archeobus is probably the simplest way to get out, but you can also use the bus system.